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Out of Our Minds 25th Anniversary Edition: The Power of Being Creative
336 pages, Hardcover
Published May 4, 2026
About the author
Ken Robinson
52 books1,699 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
Sir Ken Robinson is an internationally recognized leader in the development of innovation and human resources. He has worked with national governments in Europe and Asia, with international agencies, Fortune 500 companies, national and state education systems, non-profit corporations and some of the world’s leading cultural organizations. They include the Royal Shakespeare Company, Sir Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, the Royal Ballet, the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, the European Commission, UNESCO, the Council of Europe, the J Paul Getty Trust and the Education Commission of the States. From 1989 - 2001, he was Professor of Arts Education at the University of Warwick.
Sir Ken Robinson is an internationally recognized leader in the development of innovation and human resources. He has worked with national governments in Europe and Asia, with international agencies, Fortune 500 companies, national and state education systems, non-profit corporations and some of the world’s leading cultural organizations. They include the Royal Shakespeare Company, Sir Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, the Royal Ballet, the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, the European Commission, UNESCO, the Council of Europe, the J Paul Getty Trust and the Education Commission of the States. From 1989 - 2001, he was Professor of Arts Education at the University of Warwick.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 16, 2026
After more than thirty years as an educator, I've come to rely on certain books to rekindle what I believe: that children have an astonishing capacity for creativity, and that they deserve ample opportunity to use it. Out of Our Minds is one of those books. This fourth edition keeps intact all of Sir Ken Robinson's historical stories—the ones that question what education should look like and make the case for keeping creativity alive and thriving in our schools.
It preserves Robinson's thinking on the world's prevailing beliefs about education, intelligence, and creativity, while adding material written after his death in 2020 by his daughter, Kate—updates that account for how dramatically our world has changed since the previous edition appeared in 2017.
One story stays with me. Robinson describes a promotion committee weighing the case of an English lecturer who had written three novels and a television series, all nationally recognized, but had published only two papers in conventional research journals. The committee hesitated—the creative work was "interesting," but was it research? Robinson's point cuts deeper than one man's promotion: we've built systems that recognize knowledge only when it takes the narrow, propositional form of the journal article, while dismissing the novel, the painting, the performance as something lesser. Why do we insist on defining intelligence so narrowly—and what do we lose when we do?
The additions Robinson himself might have made had he lived—a global pandemic, the rise of artificial intelligence—are handled with care, but it's in the treatment of neurodiversity where Kate's voice shines. She weaves in new statistics, laws, and needed reforms to support our growing ADHD and neurodiverse population, carrying forward the same conviction her father brought to every page. "Rather than demanding conformity," she writes, "we should be promoting diversity in all its forms." The line could stand as the thesis of the whole book—and it lands with particular force now, when so many children are finally being understood rather than simply corrected.
This book matters not only for those who work with children, but for anyone who recognizes that our systems too often suppress the very thing the world most needs—creative people with the capacity to make it better. Robinson was right: creativity can be learned, and it must be, for the sake of all our futures. Whether you're new to Robinson's work or returning to it, this is the edition to own.
It preserves Robinson's thinking on the world's prevailing beliefs about education, intelligence, and creativity, while adding material written after his death in 2020 by his daughter, Kate—updates that account for how dramatically our world has changed since the previous edition appeared in 2017.
One story stays with me. Robinson describes a promotion committee weighing the case of an English lecturer who had written three novels and a television series, all nationally recognized, but had published only two papers in conventional research journals. The committee hesitated—the creative work was "interesting," but was it research? Robinson's point cuts deeper than one man's promotion: we've built systems that recognize knowledge only when it takes the narrow, propositional form of the journal article, while dismissing the novel, the painting, the performance as something lesser. Why do we insist on defining intelligence so narrowly—and what do we lose when we do?
The additions Robinson himself might have made had he lived—a global pandemic, the rise of artificial intelligence—are handled with care, but it's in the treatment of neurodiversity where Kate's voice shines. She weaves in new statistics, laws, and needed reforms to support our growing ADHD and neurodiverse population, carrying forward the same conviction her father brought to every page. "Rather than demanding conformity," she writes, "we should be promoting diversity in all its forms." The line could stand as the thesis of the whole book—and it lands with particular force now, when so many children are finally being understood rather than simply corrected.
This book matters not only for those who work with children, but for anyone who recognizes that our systems too often suppress the very thing the world most needs—creative people with the capacity to make it better. Robinson was right: creativity can be learned, and it must be, for the sake of all our futures. Whether you're new to Robinson's work or returning to it, this is the edition to own.
August 24, 2026
Sir Ken Robinson is my all-time favourite educationalist and this book does not disappoint. Updated by his daughter Katie, this is a modernised version of a vitally important piece of literature. While a good portion of the work discusses the ways in which we as a society systematically drain the creativity of our children - it is ultimately a book of hope, and I truly feel it is a must read for anyone interested in the impact of neoliberal structures and the social sciences as a whole.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews